Button holder for sewing machine



Aug. 6, 1963 1.. J. SCHWARTZ ETAL 3,099,971

BUTTON HOLDER FOR SEWING MACHINE Filed June 1, 1961 34 K j 1 l INVENTORS Louis .I .Sckwarfz, Charles Cazzyelosi A2 {gnazz'a C'az zyelasi BYXQZWU i Unite grates Easton, Pa.

Filed June 1, 1961, Ser. No. 114,096

C aims- (Cl. 112-114) This invention relates to an attachment for holding buttons on a sewing machine to be sewed on garments and more particularly to a shank button holder attachment for sewing machines.

While it is known to provide various attachments for holding buttons on a sewing machine, none of the known arrangements exhibits all the advantages of complete safety from needle breakage, ease of insertion and removal of the button, ease of button alignment, and adaptability to all types of shank buttons.

The manual placement of buttons in alignment with a machine for the purpose of sewing the buttons on garments is a difficult and time-consuming task which has the inherent danger of the operators sewing his or her fingers, and any misalignment entails the risk of needle breakage which might damage the eyes of the operator.

The present invention avoids the above-mentioned difiiculties of both manual operation and known button holders by providing an improved shank button attachment which completely eliminates the need for holding the button during machine operation, which provides increased ease of insertion and removal of the buttons and further provides for continuous and exact alignment of the button aperture with the needle of the machine. The attachment of the present invention may be readily adapted to all sizes and shapes of buttons.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved button holder for sewing machines.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a button holder attachment for sewing machines particularly adapted for the sewing of shank buttons on garments.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a button holder arrangement providing improved ease of operation and more accurate alignment of the button aperture with the needle of the sewing machine.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following specification, claims and appended drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 illustrates a conventional sewing machine having the button holder attachment of the present invention incorporated therein.

FIGURE 2 is an exploded view showing the various elements of the button holder attachment of the present invention.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view parts of the button holder.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view showing a portion of the button holder with the retainer arm removed.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the opposite side of the button holder of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a partial cross-section, illustrating the operation of the button holder of the present invention; and

FIGURE 7 shows a typical shank button usable in conjunction with the holder of this invention.

Referring to the drawings, FIGURE 1 illustrates a conventional sewing machine generally indicated at 10, comprising a base 12, a housing 14 and a needle 16. Attached to a support arm 18 of the machine is the button holder 20 of the present invention.

showing the several Patented Aug. 6, 1963 ice Referring to FIGURES 2 and 7, the button holder attachment comprises a base plate 22 to which is rigidly secured a first generally U-shaped vertical plate 24 forming a needle shield and a second vertical U-shaped plate 26 forming a needle guide. Shield 24 is provided with slot 25 by which the holder may be adjustably attached to the support arm 18 by means of a screw 19. The horizontal legs 28 and 30 of the needle guide define a rectangular shaped aperture 32 utilized to position and align a typical shank button such as button 34 illustrated in FIGURE 7. Button 34 is provided with the usual shank 36 having an aperture 38 by means of which the button is attached to a garment by passing thread therethrough.

Pivoted to base plate 22 by a screw 40 is a button retainer arm 42 formed with a concave inner surface as illustrated at 44 in FIGURE 6 conforming to the external surface of the head of button 34 the end of the arm being outwardly curved to form a lip, whereby a button head may be easily inserted between the retainer arm and the needle guide. Screw 40 is provided with threads at its lower end which are threadedly engaged in the aperture 46 in plate 22 but permits retainer 42 carried on pivot arm 48 and having aperture 50 to freely pivot about it.

Plate 22 is formed with an upstanding vertical pin 52 having an aperture 54 receiving one end of a coil tension spring 56. The other end of spring 56 is secured to a screw 58 received in pivot arm 48. Pivot arm 48 is also provided with a horizontal threaded aperture 60 receiving adjusting screw 62, the end of which abuts against the front surface 64 of needle shield 24.

In operation, needle 16 is properly aligned with needle guide 26 so as to pass through the aperture 38 in shank button 34. This alignment may be accurately accomplished so as to bring the needle 16 within of an inch of the needle guide 26. Retainer 42 is then manually pivoted about screw 40 against the action of coil spring 56 and the shank button 34 is inserted into the slot 32 of the needle guide. An important feature of the invention is the provision of slot 32 of rectangular shape so as to cause the shank button 34 to be inserted in position with its aperture 38 facing upwardly in alignment with the needle 16. After the button has been sewn on a garment, it may be easily removed from the holder by sliding it out of the slot 32.

By adjusting screw 62 against surface 64 of needle shield 24, it is possible to adjust the retainer 42 further away from the needle guide 26 so that buttons with thicker heads may be more easily inserted into slot 32.

It is apparent from the above that the present invention provides a simplified shank button holder for sewing machines which provides for easy insertion and removal of shank buttons while at the same time assuring accurate alignment of the button aperture with the sewing needle. The spring arm retainer 42 is contoured so as to adapt to any shape of button head and different shank lengths may be accommodated by simple adjustment of needle 16 with respect to needle guide 26. Accurate alignment of the button aperture in a vertical position substantially reduces the possibilities of any needle breakage and the danger of damage to an operators finger is completely eliminated since the button is tightly held during operation by the button holder, at which time the operator may be reaching for an additional button.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A shank button holding attachment for a sewing machine comprising, a base plate, a first vertical plate forming a needle shield rigidly secured to the base plate, said needle shield having a slot, whereby the button holding attachment may be adjustably mounted on a sewing machine, a second vertical plate forming a needle guide rigidly secured to the base plate and extending upwardly from said base plate perpendicular to the needle shield, the needle guide having an elongated rectangular-shaped aperture communicating with a vertical edge of the guide for receiving the shank of a button, a button retainer, said button retainer including an arm having one end portion pivotally secured to the base plate, the opposite end portion of said arm being in alignment with the needle guide aperture, said opposite end portion of the arm having an elongated concave surface conforming to the external surface of the head of a shank button, the end of the arm adjacent the concave portion being out- 20 wardly curved to form a lip, whereby a button head may be easily inserted between the retainer arm and the needle guide, and a tension spring having one end connected to the base plate and the other end connected to the button retainer arm intermediate the ends thereof, whereby the retainer arm is biased against the needle guide.

2. A shank button holding attachment according to claim 1 wherein an adjusting screw is threadably mounted on the retainer arm, the end of the screw abutting the needle shield, whereby the spacing between the retainer arm and the needle guide may be varied.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 998,595 Barron July 25, 1911 1,151,853 Barron Aug. 31, 1915 1,879,709 Rich Sept. 27, 1932 2,611,332 Shevchik Sept. 23, 1952 2,753,822 Nessle July 10, 1956 

1. A SHANK BUTTON HOLDING ATTACHMENT FOR A SEWING MACHINE COMPRISING, A BASE PLATE, A FIRST VERTICAL PLATE FORMING A NEEDLE SHIELD RIGIDLY SECURED TO THE BASE PLATE, SAID NEEDLE SHIELD HAVING A SLOT, WHEREBY THE BUTTON HOLDING ATTACHMENT MAY BE ADJUSTABLY MOUNTED ON A SEWING MACHINE, A SECOND VERTICAL PLATE FORMING A NEEDLE GUIDE RIGIDLY SECURED TO THE BASE PLATE AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM SAID BASE PLATE PERPENDICULAR TO THE NEEDLE SHIELD, THE NEEDLE GUIDE HAVING AN ELONGATED RECTANGULAR-SHAPED APERTURE COMMUNICATING WITH A VERTICAL EDGE OF THE GUIDE FOR RECEIVING THE SHANK OF A BUTTON, A BUTTON RETAINER, SAID BUTTON RETAINER INCLUDING AN ARM HAVING ONE END PORTION PIVOTALLY SECURED TO THE BASE PLATE, THE OPPOSITE END PORTION OF SAID ARM BEING IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE 